An earthquake is one of the most common natural disasters. It may cause great damage. So it is wise to learn some simple safety tips to protect yourself or your family members.

Fragile items, like those made of glass are easily broken and should usually be placed on a lower surface, near the ground instead of placing them on cupboards higher up. Never place them near your bed, sofas and other furniture where you would be sitting or lying down. When there is a strong movement, these pieces will fall on the floor directly and not on you.

There is a strong chance of short circuits (短路) and fire breakouts during an earthquake. Make sure you turn off electrical connections and gas immediately when an earthquake happens.

During an earthquake, lie beneath an object that is not easily damaged. Do not go near objects that could directly fall on you. Never use the elevator to go down. Stay inside until the shaking stops and it is safe to go outside. Research has shown that most injuries happen when people inside buildings try to go out. Use the stairs at all times.

If you are outdoors, do not take shelter under a tree, streetlights, electric poles or tall buildings. If you are driving, stop your car and stay in a safe place. Do not park your car under a tree or any tall object.

If trapped in debris (瓦砾堆), cover your mouth with a handkerchief or clothing. Tap on a pipe or wall so rescuers can find you. Use a whistle (哨子) if one is available. Never shout for help. Shouting can cause you to breathe in dangerous amounts of dust. Do not light a match because you may burn yourself. Do not move about or kick up dust.

When you are curious about something and want to know more about it, you can use the way of asking questions. Asking questions is the first step to make discoveries and find interesting answers. The steps below can guide you during the research.

Step 1: On a note card or a piece of paper, write down the subject that you are interested in. Just get the main idea down. For example, you might write: Discover more about dinosaurs.

Step 2: Next, stop and think for a moment about what you already know about your subject. List what you already know like the sentences below:

1.Dinosaurs lived long before human beings appeared.

2.Dinosaurs lived on the earth for more than 150 million years.

3.Some dinosaurs fed on plants, some on meat.

Step 3: What can you do with what you want to learn? By asking questions. On your paper, start writing down questions about the dinosaurs as you think of them:

1.What’s the best weather for dinosaurs to live in?

2.How many kinds of dinosaurs are there?

3.Have dinosaurs really disappeared?

Step 4: Armed with your list of questions, you can now go to the nearest library or computer to begin your research. As you learn more about your subject, you’ll probably discover some new questions. For example, you might discover that dinosaurs disappeared about 65 million years ago. Why? What happened? Asking new questions can help you research your subject more widely. The next time you find something interesting to research, take time to organize your thinking by asking good questions. And remember learning more always brings more questions.

How Do Kids Develop Emotional Literacy（情感素养）?

The skills of identifying emotions and responding to other people’s emotions combine to create a skill known as emotional literacy, which is a big part of a kid’s social development. It will be nice if this ability comes naturally, but it isn’t. 【小题1】 Here are some ways to increase their emotional literacy.

【小题2】 Parents can grab a really big piece of paper and sit down with their kids to brainstorm all the feelings they can think of. The list may include emotions kids don’t recognize, but that is OK. A parent should make his/her face that goes with the feeling and explain a situation where it may come up.

Read topical books. There are many great books that specifically explore emotions. When parents are reading to their kids, ask them to figure out what the main character is feeling in certain situations. 【小题3】

Play emotional word-guessing game. This is a fun game to play with kids. One parent picks an emotion to convey to the other, using either the whole body or just a face. 【小题4】 In this way, they may be able to see their own feeling on their faces especially when they are having trouble in making sense of the faces.

Role play social scenes and review. Come up with contexts kids may meet. 【小题5】 Alongside role play comes reviewing. Go over situations that didn’t end well, examine the emotions of the people involved and talk with kids about what could have been done differently.